Black Desert Mobile -- What We Know So Far

Pearl Abyss' highly anticipatedBlack Desert Mobile just launched in Korea, and it’s already looking to be one the biggest mobile games of the year, coming in at nearly 5 million pre-registrations in Korea alone, with servers overloaded at launch by the huge influx of traffic. In a way, it’s not totally unexpected, as Black Desert M is a spin-off of Pearl Abyss' MMORPG, Black Desert Online, and it shares many of the features that made its predecessor so popular.

However, as is tradition with Pearl Abyss, not much gets filtered our way from across the globe, aside from what the players in the KR region generously translate for us. Still, there have been a couple of trailers and other videos released on YouTube about BDM, which is more or less where all of this information comes from.

The first thing that stands out from BDM's trailer is that it's very impressive from a graphical standpoint, and by all reports it runs quite smoothly on modern devices (though it’ll probably chew up your battery). BDO veterans will also notice that the gameplay is fairly reminiscent of the original game’s -- however, anyone hoping for a way to play BDO while away from their computer will be sorely disappointed. Not only is there no cross-platform play, they’re not even technically the same game, and any crossover between BDM and BDO will likely take the shape of cross-promotional events held by Pearl Abyss.

Still, that’s not to say that BDM will be a lesser game, though as as a free-to-play mobile title, it’ll certainly be more accessible. For starters, the combat has been stripped down and modified to resemble the mobile ARPG-style of combat you’d find in a game like Lineage 2: Revolution.

In addition, BDM is launching with only 5 of BDO’s 12 classes (Warrior, Ranger, Witch, Berserker, and Valkyrie), and the only lifeskills we’ve seen in trailers like this one are resource gathering, farming, and horse training, though the developers have also mentioned trading. That being said, it’s a pretty safe bet that the devs will add more classes and life skills later on in BDM’s lifespan (especially since that’s what Pearl Abyss did with the MMO).

On the other hand, BDM is also launching with some features that BDO’s community wishes their game had, like structured PvP and party dungeons. Another major difference that will appeal to casual players (and probably most people in general) is that BDM’s gear enhancement system looks to be far less rage-inducing than BDO’s, which is notoriously punishing.

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At the moment, there's no solid Western release date for Black Desert Mobile, but going by the staggered release of Black Desert Online worldwide, it'll be at least half a year until we see it on smartphones and tablets in NA/EU.